A doorman, also known as doorkeeper, is someone who is posted at, and often guards, a door, or by extension another entrance (specific similar terms exist, e.g.
gatekeeper
A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status. Gatekeepers assess who is "in or out", in the classic words of manage ...
, hall porter). Specific uses include:
Professions
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Doorman (profession)
A doorman (or doorwoman/doorperson), also called a porter in British English, is a person hired to provide courtesy and security services at a residential building or hotel. They are common in urban luxury highrises. At a residential building, ...
, hired to provide courtesy and security services at a residential building or hotel
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Bouncer
A bouncer (also known as a door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at licensed or sanctioned venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, strip clubs and casinos. A bouncer's duties are to provide security, to check legal ag ...
, a person employed by a nightclub or similar establishment to prevent troublemakers from entering or to eject them from the premises
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Usher (occupation)
An usher is a person who welcomes and shows people where to sit, especially at a church, theatre or when attending a wedding.
History
The word comes from the Latin '' ostiarius'' ("porter", "doorman") through Norman French, and is a cognate o ...
, often ceremonial
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Ostiarius
An ostiarius, a Latin word sometimes anglicized as ostiary but often literally translated as porter or doorman, originally was an enslaved person or guard posted at the entrance of a building, similarly to a gatekeeper.
In the Roman Catholic C ...
, ecclesiastical minor order
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Doorkeeper (Houses of Parliament)
The doorkeepers are badged officers of the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament.
The role of doorkeeper dates back to the 1300s, when the Palace of Westminster also served as a court and they served as prison guards. Over time their role changed to ...
, badged officer of the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament
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Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives
An appointed officer of the United States House of Representatives from 1789 until 1995, the doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives was chosen by a resolution at the opening of each United States Congress. The Office of the D ...
Books
* ''The Doorman'' (''El Portero''), a novel by
Reinaldo Arenas
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Doorman (character)
DeMarr Davis is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer and artist John Byrne (comics), John Byrne, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''West Coast Avengers (comic book), West Coas ...
, a Marvel Comics fictional superhero
Film and TV
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"The Doorman" (''Seinfeld''), a 1995 episode of the American TV series
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''The Doorman'' (1950 film), a 1950 film starring Cantinflas
* ''The Doorman'', a 2005 film starring
Dominique Vandenberg
* ''The Doorman'', a 2007 film directed by
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
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''The Doorman'' (2020 film), a 2020 action thriller starring Ruby Rose and Jean Reno
* ''Dead as a Doorman'', a 1986 film starring
Bradley Whitford
Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he ...
Music
* "Doorman", a rock song by Stereophonics from the 2005 album ''
Language. Sex. Violence. Other?''
* "Doorman", a song by British rapper Slowthai and featuring Mura Masa from his 2019 album ''
Nothing Great About Britain''
Other uses
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Karel Doorman
Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman (23 April 1889 – 28 February 1942) was a Royal Netherlands Navy officer who during World War II commanded remnants of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command naval strike forces in ...
(1889-1942), Dutch Rear Admiral
* , a Second World War Dutch merchant ship
* Doorman, a village in
Kunduz Province
Kunduz () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethnically ...
in Afghanistan
See also
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Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
, originally posted at a door post
{{disambiguation, surname
Surnames of Dutch origin